1 Corinthians 15:3-26 Reality and Relevance of the Resurrection
Good morning and welcome! We are so glad to have you all here this morning with us as we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ!
We are all here this morning, whether it’s your first time visiting, or you have been coming here Sunday after Sunday for a long time, we are all here today because it is by far the most important day on the church calendar, a special reminder of the most important day in the history of mankind, the day that Jesus rose from the dead.
JP Lange wrote, “[The resurrection of Jesus] is not a point on which we are at liberty to form any opinion we may choose without prejudice to our own salvation.”
What we believe about the resurrection of Jesus matters. So, with that in mind, let’s pray.
It seems to me that looking over the Easter sermons I have delivered over the years the focus has been squarely on the reality of Jesus’ resurrection, or at least trying to convince people of its reality.
I’m not a lawyer, and I’m not going to pretend I’m any kind of legal expert, but I do know that eye witness accounts help to establish facts in any given case. And if eye witness accounts from two or three people are enough to prove the facts then the eye witness accounts of over five hundred people make the case iron clad. This is the case with the death and resurrection of Jesus.
This morning I’d like to turn your attention to 1 Corinthians 15:3-26, that’s on page 961 in the pew Bibles so you can see it for yourselves.
1 Corinthians was the first of two letters written to the Corinthian church by the Apostle Paul about twenty years after the death and resurrection of Jesus.
The city of Corinth was at the heart of an important trade route in the ancient world. Like many cities that thrive on trade, Corinth had a reputation for sexual immorality, religious diversity, and corruption. The church that the Apostle Paul planted there floundered under all of these influences and began to divide over various issues. Many people compare the church in Corinth to the church in America but you can decide that for yourself after reading it.
Paul wrote toward the end of his letter, in chapter 15:3-11:
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas (that’s Peter), then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Paul was writing this letter to the church, not just the those who gathered regularly on Sunday mornings, but to those who put their trust in Jesus, not those who agreed with the facts that Jesus lived and died but those who were dependant on His death and resurrection for the forgiveness of their sins.
The reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection was already established and remains so to this day. Those who choose not to believe this are rejecting facts, rejecting reality, and most importantly rejecting the Savior Jesus.
As I said at the beginning, the resurrection of Jesus is not a point on which we are at liberty to form any opinion we may choose without jeopardizing our own salvation.
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is at the very heart of the Christian faith, it is the central point of the Bible, without the resurrection of Jesus there is no forgiveness of sin, without the resurrection of Jesus there is no church, without the resurrection of Jesus there is no hope for the future or hope of life beyond death.
In other words, the resurrection of Jesus is extremely relevant.
Paul goes on to write,
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
There is so much to unpack here but I’ll try to be brief. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead proves that those who have faith in Jesus will one day be raised from the dead too. The resurrection of Jesus gives us hope for the future because of the forgiveness of our sin, it gives us hope for the future that lies beyond this life, beyond the death of these natural bodies.
Verses 17-19 point out the wonderful benefits of the resurrection of Jesus for those who trust in Him in the negative: 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
But let’s turn it around and read it in the positive. “Since Christ has been raised from the dead, your faith is fruitful and you are no longer in your sins. And those who have fallen asleep in Christ are alive. Since in Christ we have hope in this life and beyond, we are of all people the most joyful!
And Paul conforms this in verses 20-26.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
We are all by nature children of Adam, and as such we have inherited his sinful nature, the nature that chooses sin over and over. The Bible makes it clear that the wages of our sin, what we earn, is death.
But God offers forgiveness for our sin freely, He offers salvation from eternal death freely through faith in Jesus. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
We have hope for this life and beyond because Jesus was raised from the dead. Jesus is the firstfruits from the dead, alive forevermore, and the promise for us that belong to Him through faith is that when He returns we too will be made alive forevermore. Jesus will destroy every other rule and authority and power and that will include death itself.
There are a lot of people in the world, perhaps even you this morning that think that the idea of Jesus being raised from the dead is ridiculous, they scoff at the fact that we are gathered here this morning.
There are those in the world that think the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is at least reasonable, after all, lots of people were killed for talking about it. It seems unreasonable that anybody would give their life up for a fairytale.
But I’ll say it again as I have tried to represent it in every Easter sermon I’ve preached so far, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is a reality and it is a reality worth staking your life on.
Alistair Begg posed three questions regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead: Is it ridiculous? Is it reasonable? And most importantly, is it relevant?
I believe that the passage we’ve looked at answers all three questions but let me drill down on the last one: is it relevant?
That is if to say, what difference does it make that Jesus was raised from the dead?
Simply put, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead gives us a way to be connected with God the Father and satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart.
When tragedy strikes and we are shaken to our core we all look to God because we are made in His image and are made to long for Him, whether we are shaking our fists in anger or asking Him why He allowed such tragedy to happen, at our core we go to God because He is the answer to the deepest longings of the human heart.
What difference does it make that Jesus was raised from the dead? It is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that provides forgiveness for our sin. His sacrifice provides our salvation through faith in Him. It is the gift of God by faith.
And because we have been forgiven through faith in Jesus, in His life, death, and resurrection, we no longer have to fear death any more than we have to fear falling asleep because we know that on the other side we will be with Him forever. Christ is the firstfruits from the dead and when He returns we who belong to Him will be raised too. No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ and His resurrection.
You have to ask yourself the question: is the resurrection of Jesus ridiculous, is merely reasonable, or is it truly relevant?
If you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior, never accepted the fact that His death on the cross was for your sin, but want to, it’s as simple as asking God for forgiveness in prayer, declaring that Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved, forgiven, and adopted by God as His child.
Would you all stand with me as we pray?
